PICO: In homeless individuals who are discharged from hospital settings back to the streets, how does the availability of resources and supplies affect hospital readmissions compared to homeless individuals who are discharged with arrangements to continue care? For my quantitative data, I will be using a t-test since I am going to be comparing two populations: homeless patients who are discharged back to the streets versus homeless patients who are discharged to lower levels of care (SNF, boarding, medical respite). Since there must be one independent and one dependent variable for the t-test, I feel it is appropriate to use for my research project.
PICO: In homeless individuals who are discharged from hospital settings back to the streets, how does the availability of resources and supplies affect hospital readmissions compared to homeless individuals who are discharged with arrangements to continue care? Independent variable: Discharge plan (patient to be discharged back to the streets or to medical respite programs/SNF; whether or not the discharge plan accounts for the continuation of medical care) Dependent variable: Hospital readmissions The number of homeless patient hospital readmissions will change based on where the patient is discharged to (the streets vs. medical respite). Research hypothesis: Homeless patients who are discharged from hospitals to lower levels of care, such as medical respite programs, are less likely to be readmitted to hospitals for worsening conditions. Null hypothesis: Homeless patients who are discharged from hospitals to lower levels of care are not less likely to be readmitted than those homeless patients that are discharged back to the streets. Homeless patients discharged from hospitals back to the streets are not at increased risk of hospital readmissions.
